Twenty
four hours after elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, held a stakeholders’
meeting with leaders of Niger Delta Coastal States to initiate peace, leaders
of Ijaws of Gbaramatu kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of
Delta State have cried out to the international community to halt alleged
Federal Government’s plan to bombard their communities.

Leaders
and chiefs from the kingdom led by Chief Godspower Gbenekama, Chief Nelson
Ogelegbanwei and Chief Vero Tangbuwei among others made the allegation at a
press conference on Saturday, in Warri.

Chief
Gbenekama, who is the spokesperson for the Gbaramatu Traditional Council, said
drones and other military hardwares had already been deployed to the area in
readiness for the bombardment any moment from Saturday.

According
to him, except the Federal Government is urgently prevailed upon, the
bombardment would commence in earnest in the disguise of smoking out members of
the dreaded Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) who have brought the oil-economy of the
country to its knees via destruction of oil and gas facilities in the Niger
Delta region.

He said
personnel from the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Airforce had
already begun the patrol of waterways and creeks in the kingdom, adding that
“they are prepared to deal with us.”

Gbenekama
added that as of Friday, afraid residents of the various communities in the
kingdom who have alternatives have begun to relocate to safer climes to avoid
being caught in the planned bombardment.

“The fear
of the coming bombardment is driving our locals out of the communities.

For those
who have alternative abodes, they are moving out in droves.

Of course
some don’t have anywhere to go and they are left to fate,” the Benemowei of
Gbaramatu kingdom enthused.

He
identified the stalled take-off of the Nigerian Maritime University as one of
the reasons militants have refused to sheathe their swords, calling on the
Federal Government to make a definite pronouncement on the matter as it is
doing the menace of Fulani herdsmen.

He
described the FG as the number one “lawless organ” which does not obey court
orders as it has refused to appeal or pay the N99.97 billion fine by a
competent court of law for the bombardment carried out against the kingdom in
the heat of militancy in 2009.The
leaders of the kingdom urged the FG to show seriousness and sincerity by
constituting a committee that will midwife the actual dialogue process with
aggrieved militants, elders and leaders of the region in order to restore peace
and normalcy in the region.They
denied knowledge of identities of members of the NDA and other groups of
militants, accusing the FG of planning the bombardment to create a sense of
insecurity so as to finally seal the fate of the maritime University.

Meanwhile,
leaders and chiefs from Gbaramatu kingdom have expressed their readiness to
remain in Nigeria, saying they were against and plan of secession.

“We elders
do not support secession. We want the maritime University back. The FG should
make a pronouncement on it,” the leaders which included Chief Julius Torfawa,
Mr Godwin Olufemi and Mr William Tortor noted.

They said
people of the kingdom and the entire Niger Delta were ready for dialogue hence
the Clark’s stakeholders’ meeting, calling on the Avengers to halt all
hostilities and plans of secession.

“Avengers
should give peace a chance. They should ask stop the destruction.

The FG too
should be initiate a dialogue and shelve the plan to bombard our communities.

Bombardment
will not solve the problem. We need to jaw jaw and not war war.

Dialogue
is the only thing that can solve the problem. They should not use the avengers
as a guise to bombard our communities,” they pleaded.

The elders
also called on the Nigeria military to release the 10 arrested pupils from
Oporoza as well as return stolen cultural artifacts and deities in May to the
kingdom as one of the factors that’ll engender peace.

They urged
the political class and the international oil companies (IOCs) to prevail on
the FG to halt the planned bombardment as their installations, facilities and
business concerns would be endangered and affected.

However,
the General Officer Commanding (G.O.C.) 2nd Division of the Nigerian Army,
Ibadan, Major-General Kasimu Abdulkarim, had said that the Nigeria Army would
be having an amphibious training exercise within Delta State.

He
disclosed this when he paid a courtesy call on Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa on Thursday
in Asaba.

The GOC
was on tour of states the 2 Division of Nigerian Army covers which includes
Delta, Edo, Oyo, Ekiti and parts of Niger State ruling out the fears of any
form of bombardment.

“Nigerian
Army is to have a training exercise which is amphibious in nature within the
state.

“We are
here to provide adequate security and make the environment safe for all,”
Abdulkareem noted.

But Chief
Gbenekama of Gbaramatu, when corrected that it was a mere two-week military
exercise that was about to take off in the two-week, insisted that the training
was a disguise and part of the plans to bombard the kingdom.

When
contacted, the police public relations officer, Delta Police Command, Celestina
Kalu, a superintendent of police, said her men had not been detailed for such
an exercise neither was she aware of any planned bombardment.

A source
from the Nigerian Navy in Warri could not also confirm the allegation, saying
he was not aware of such planned bombardment in the creeks of the state by the
army.